The history of St. Albans Sanatorium starts well before the building being built in 1892. The land that St. Albans sits on was host to both the Shawnee and Cherokee tribes as well as what is known as the Drapers Meadow Massacre of 1775. St. Albans was founded originally as a Lutheran Boys School. In 1865, the land saw more blood during the Civil War with Union forces defeating Confederate forces in the area.

The school was converted from a boys school into a hospital for the mentally ill in 1916 by Dr. J.C. King.
More information and history can be found at their website.